Let’s start with a quick thought on the top story here in the Bay Area: Cal quarterback Jared Goff, as expected, went No. 1 to the Rams.

In the process, he became 1) the first Golden Bear to be the top overall pick since Steve Bartkowski in 1975 and 2) one of only two Bay Area players in the past three decades to be the first off the board.

The other was Stanford’s Andrew Luck, in 2012. And in both cases, the No. 1 pick comes with immense pressure because of the particular circumstances:

Luck’s task in Indianapolis: Revive a franchise and replace a legend, Peyton Manning.

Goff’s challenge with the Rams is equally momentous: He immediately becomes the face of a franchise that traded six picks to get him and oh-by-the-way just relocated to the No. 2 market in the country — a market that happens to be in need of a superstar after its most popular athlete recently retired.

Mamba out, Goff in.

Now, to the rest of the NFL Draft’s winners and losers (the college perspective). In some cases, they are one in the same:

Winner: The SEC. Led all conferences with 51 players selected.

Loser: The SEC. Didn’t have a player selected until the ninth pick, which constitutes the league’s longest wait … its lowest-highest pick … in a decade. (We read that Nick Saban didn’t look happy about the situation with his players in particular. But when does he ever look happy?)

Winner:The SEC (II). That’s 10 consecutive years the SEC has led all conferences in draft picks. In that span, it has also won eight national titles.

Loser: The ACC. Tied the Big 12 for fourth in total draft picks but lagged far behind its Power 5 peers in picks on a per-team basis, with 1.8. (The SEC edged the Big Ten in this metric, too, 3.6 to 3.4.)

Winner: Notre Dame. Seven draftees, all in the top-four rounds. No issues with Brian Kelly’s recruiting. Keeping them upright is the problem.

Loser: The ACC (II): Remove Clemson and Florida State from the calculation, and the league’s other 12 schools produced a paltry 1.25 draftees per team. No wonder neutral observers think so little of the quality of play in the conference when the Tigers and Seminoles aren’t involved.

Winner: Ohio State. Produced five first-round picks, one short of the record (Miami), and 10 picks in the top-three rounds, a new record.

Loser: Ohio State. Beat Northern Illinois by seven, Indiana by seven, Minnesota by 14 and lost to Michigan State. Did the Buckeyes underachieve? Oh, yes.

Winner: Mississippi. Three players chosen in the first round for the first time in school history.

Loser: Mississippi. Laremy Tunseil tumbles down the draft, then admits to accepting money from a coach. I am shocked … SHOCKED! … to learn that Hugh Freeze might be running an outlaw program. Err, maybe not. (Psst: When a new HC arrives and loads up on players the program has never gotten in the past, it’s often a sign of some funny business. When the HC takes to social media and challenges skeptics, as Hugh Freeze did upon signing the Tunsil class, it’s definitely a sign of funny business.)

Winner: The Big Ten. With 47 selections, the league performed much better than it has in recent years and was second only to the SEC in total draftees.

Loser: The Big Ten. Another year with no quarterback picked in the first round, thereby extending a drought that stretches the imagination. Last time a B1G quarterback went in the first: Kerry Collins (Penn State) in 1995.

Winner: Pac-12. Produced the No. 1 overall pick, two top-10s and had 32 players selected in all — behind only the SEC and Big Ten.

Loser: Pac-12. Of those 32 draftees, nine came in the final round. That leaves just 23 in the first six rounds: Meh.

Winner: Pac-12 (II). Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly has now selected 11 Pac-12 players during his time in the NFL, including two in the first round this year with the 49ers (DeForest Buckner and Joshua Garnett).

Loser: Penn State. It wasn’t that long ago that the Nittany Lions produced four first-rounders in the same draft. This was the sixth consecutive year they’ve been shut out of Round One.

Winner: UCLA LB Myles Jack. Yes, he tumbled into the second round, but that 1) takes the pressure off and 2) gives him a career’s worth of motivation.

Loser: Non-P5 conferences: North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz went No. 2, but only four picks in the first round came from outside the heavyweight leagues.

Winner: Alabama. For the fifth consecutive year, the Tide had at least seven players drafted.

Jon Wilner

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I think the most important stat was left out — I believe Cal is now tied for second place in having the most QB’s selected as the #1 pick (Bartkowski and Goff), along with Notre Dame. Stanford is first with four #1 QB picks.